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  1. #1
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    23rd April 15
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    "Kilted Skirts" -- fabric weight

    I recently ordered a traditional 8-yard kilt from Scotweb in a nice 16oz tartan from House of Edgar (Roberton Hunting Ancient).

    I was considering ordering a matching "kilted skirt" in the same tartan. However, here's my dilemma:

    HOE makes the same tartan as I ordered for the kilt in a 16oz double-wide tuck-selvedge for a LOT less $$ or in 13oz single-wide kilt-selvedge for about the same frieght as the heavy fabric. Other weavers make nominally the same tartan in various grades, but I figure the best matching will happen if I stick to my kilt's fabric house.

    So.... here's the question: will a ladies garment made in this fabric be too heavy (or worse simply not hang right)? Thinking somewhere between 3 in above the knee to mid-calf. I'm not sure the selvedge makes much difference in a skirt, if it is even incorporated when usable.

    I asked SW's customer service and got a somewhat indefinite answer. I figure the ladies here know ...

    Bob

  2. #2
    Join Date
    16th June 15
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    My wife has a couple skirts she made from our 16 oz. Dalgliesh tartan. I guess the verdict is that they're heavy (especially the big long one) but workable. She wore the blue one all day at the last Milwaukee Highland Games and didn't keel over from the strain. The next version is going to be 13 oz. fabric though, and she is looking forward to it.

    Last edited by Todd Bradshaw; 19th August 15 at 05:19 PM.

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  4. #3
    Join Date
    25th September 04
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    Victoria, BC, Canada 1123.6536.5321
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    If by "Kilted Skirt" you mean one with pleats in the back and aprons in the front like a kilt, then perhaps I can add that a man's kilt will use, on average, 4 yards of double-width fabric. If made from 16oz wool that will weigh in at just around 4 lbs.

    I once saw a hostess length skirt made out of 16oz wool. That thing weighed just under 8 pounds. It took two grown men just to lift it.
    Even when strapped on as tight as it could go without cutting off circulation the pleats sagged in the back just from their own weight.

    Most ladies skirts are made from light weight fabric. Many from 10oz or lighter. The pleats are usually far shallower than for a man's kilt.

    It's simply about the weight of the thing.

    Most of the ladies skirts that pass though my shop are cut from around 2 to 2.5 yards (double-width) of 10oz fabric. If the skirts final length is around 28 to 30 inches long that's a total weight of right around a pound and a half.
    Steve Ashton
    www.freedomkilts.com
    Skype (webcam enabled) thewizardofbc
    I wear the kilt because:
    Swish + Swagger = Swoon.

  5. #4
    Join Date
    23rd April 15
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    Thanks for the insights. I would agree that a long skirt in 16oz would be a fearsome thing to carry, but as long as the heavy fabric would hang right, short or mid-length in double-wide 16oz versus in single-wide 13oz or 10oz for >50% more $$ might make sense. At least it would be warm ...

    Bob

  6. #5
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    10th March 11
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    off topic

    I love the blue one. I have been looking for a pattern or instructions on how to make one like this for myself. I have some Buchanan ancient yardage, and since Buchanan is an unbalanced plaid, I don't want a lot of seams.
    Ruadh gu brath!

  7. #6
    Join Date
    16th June 15
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    I stuck my wife's long 16 oz. wool skirt (the light blue/red tartan above) on the UPS scale and it came out at one and three quarter pounds. That's not bad, compared to my 8 yard kilt, since the skirt has no pleats with hidden fabric, and no lining or apron overlaps you save considerable weight and cloth. The bias cut without pleats also really hangs nicely with most fabrics in a kind of no-muss, no-fuss, but still pretty elegant way. The pattern is as simple as it could be, as long as you have double-width cloth, just a radiused bottom and top, with a right angle for the side seams.



    The edge on the right is lined up with the edge of the cloth. She cuts two of these pieces, sews them together with a short zipper at the top of one seam, adds a waistband and sews a hem. She has skirts cut to this basic pattern from a variety of fabrics, from the heavy tartan all the way down to some sort of silky summer prints (I don't know what those fabrics are called, I'm a sailmaker, not a fashion designer). She says that with single-width cloth it can be done, but you use four pieces, instead of two, and you have to orient them differently (no bias cut) with the weave of the cloth running straight down the middle of each piece.

    She is currently finishing up a "test dress" where she combined that bias-cut skirt style with a shirt pattern and made one garment that buttons all the way down to the hem in front. This one is from a hunk of non-tartan plaid wool that we found on eBay. Once it's done and de-bugged, we have a lighter weight piece of our tartan to make one from. It should be pretty neat, and it's always nice to go to highland games accompanied by the best dressed gal in the park.



    Last edited by Todd Bradshaw; 23rd November 15 at 05:19 PM.

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  9. #7
    Join Date
    9th July 15
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    Man...you guys are awesome! Love that belt design as well, your design?
    "We are all connected...to each other, biologically; to the earth, chemically; to the universe, atomically...and that makes me smile." - Neil deGrasse Tyson

  10. #8
    Join Date
    3rd June 15
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    More information on skirts

    This old thread from sydnie7 has some great information

    http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...-tartan-69396/

    As does this one

    http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...67/index2.html

    I've found both invaluable in helping me decide on my next project.

  11. #9
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    Todd & Wife.... That dress is STUNNING!
    I'm in awe and can't wait to see more of your work.

  12. #10
    Join Date
    16th June 15
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    I'm supposed to make her a belt, but she bought that one. The dress fits well and hangs fine, but she wants to make some changes for the tartan version. She has a somewhat more fitted pattern for the top part that she likes better, for a bit trimmer top end. We also thought about some sort of integrated waistband, like you see on the back of a Norfolk jacket, only going all the way around. It would clean things up a bit if it happened to be worn without a belt. I think she also wants to try cutting the top on a bias to match the skirt for the tartan one.

    My role in all of this is mostly just to say "that looks nice" and to remind her to be absolutely sure she has what she wants and that it works before cutting into the only roll of that particular tartan on the planet. We've been buying tweeds for years if we saw one that we liked that was undervalued on eBay and she has a big tub full of them - so there may be another test dress in the works to check out the possible changes before the tartan one gets made.

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